//------------------------------// // Sunset's Arrival // Story: Sunset and the Seven Girls // by Kinni //------------------------------// It was just a normal day for me. I woke up at 07:00 AM and brushed my teeth, ate and changed clothes, with nothing unusual happening, which isn't a sure thing. Then I got on the computer and saw a new e-mail from an unfamiliar address. I opened it to find the message: 'HOW CAN I GET ALL THE BITCHES LIKE YOU?' -0- “What?” Twilight asked, uncomprehending. “Yeah...” Sunset sighed “Getting six girlfriends, specially those six... I kinda became a legend in the school, so guys kept sending me messages like that.” Then she smirked “And most of them didn't like when I told them the truth.” “I can imagine...” Twilight blinked “What, most?” “Oh yeah.” She nodded “There were a few who just wanted help with their crushes, and some of them later sent other messages saying that my advice worked. Of course, their initial messages were much more polite than that one.” “This is definitely something Cadance would enjoy listening about...” Twilight summoned a scroll and started writing in it “What exactly was your advice, anyway?” “Well...” -0- 'First. Don't call girls “Bitches”, this is a lack of respect that would be a fatal flaw for most romantic prospects. Second, if you want to receive romantic affection from a girl, the ideal path is based on empathy. You must care about the girl's feelings and concerns and grant them the highest degree of priority. You must try to understand the girl and her interests. You must make your intentions clear and discuss things honestly with her. With all this together, it is possible to get a girl, and if you are rejected anyway, the most important point is to accept her decision (caring about her feelings, remember?) and try your luck with another one. In regards to having multiple partners, this is something that needs to be discussed between you and the girls, and trying to force things would only backfire.' That was my completely honest and truthful response to what he was actually asking. I smirked as I imagined what face he would make while reading (I didn't actually know what he looked like so I imagined a particularly smug random male face). After finishing those important matters, I left the house to go on my usual 30 minute run to keep my stamina up. After that I took the bus and went to the airport, because Sunset would get there around 8:15 and I needed to be there to receive her. When I got there, I had an idea and bought one of those white posters you can write things on. I wrote “Sunset” in it and held it near the exits together with the other people who were receiving others, because I thought it would be funny. Eventually, she appeared, carrying a heavy wheeled trunk. Looking at her, I saw a girl that had determination, but no clear goals to walk towards. A girl who carried some frustration but hid it deeply within herself, unwilling to show weakness. A girl with abilities that made her stand out among others but also made it harder for her to make friends. -0- “You sure saw a lot of things.” Twilight said, giving Sunset a skeptical look. “Haha...” Sunset put a hoof behind her head “Maybe I'm conflating my future understandings of her character with my thoughts at the time...” “... Just move on with your story.” -0- I could tell right away the moment she saw me. She got an expression of surprise/shock, and then she saw my sign and that was replaced by bewilderment. And then she grinned slightly and I could tell she was going to try and have some fun. She walked in front of me and affected the kind of posh accent even Rarity would consider too much “Excuse me. I do believe I am the person you are waiting for.” So I played along “Really? Then tell me your name. Your full name, not just the part that is on the poster.” I said in a serious voice. “Easy. My name is Sunset Shimmer.” She stopped for a moment “And considering that I told you my name, I believe it would be polite for you to introduce yourself as well.” So that was how she wanted to play it. I decided to see where this would lead “Of course, how could I forget? In that case..” I offered her a hand “Hello Sunset Shimmer, my name is Sunset Shimmer.” “Nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer. So... Do you think I'm the person you are waiting for?” She had abandoned her posh accent. She was weakening. It was almost over. I decided to deal the final blow. “Hmm... I'm still not entirely sure. But I think you'll do anyway.” She couldn't take it anymore and cracked up. Victory. “Hehe... Okay, but serious talk. I heard that there are people who look just like you in the world, but having the same name as well is kind of a really big coincidence. Even looking at you like that it is still hard to believe.” She managed to say. “Actually, there is an explanation for that. And it manages to be even more bizarre than just a freaky coincidence.” I said to her. “Oh?” She was obviously interested. “Essentially, I'm a version of you from an alternate dimension.” I spoke simply. She was speechless for a moment “... That isn't usually how these things go.” She finally said. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Usually there should be a whole process, preparing the terrain for this kind of revelation by first introducing the idea of alternate dimensions, and then the idea of dimensional doubles, and then you could say a thing like that.” She spoke with a certain level of aggravation on her voice. “That is just a waste of time.” I declared “You are smart and don't need me to explain those kinds of concepts, and 'preparing the terrain' sounds like I'm trying to fool you. I don't need to try and make this convincing when I can simply show you proof of my claims later.” She looked at me for a few moments, seemingly trying to put her thoughts in order. Then she sighed lightly “Okay, I'm convinced. I still want to see that proof you are talking about, but I'm willing to believe in your words for now.” I grinned at her “That's nice, but we have spent too long standing here. Let us go take a bus home, and I'll give you some details on the way.” And that was how things went. We took a bus, and I explained about magic, about different dimensional properties, about the mirror and about how we simply knew far too little about how everything worked. I could tell she was still not one hundred percent convinced, but she certainly wanted it all to be true, wanted to be able to take part is something of that magnitude. -0- “You certainly trusted her with a lot of information.” Twilight said. “You know how it is...” Sunset started “Part of the reason why I fell out with Celestia was feeling like she was hiding things from me. So I thought another version of me would probably feel similarly if I kept withholding things until she was 'ready'.” “I can understand that.” Twilight allowed. “Besides, I would keep an eye on her just in case. But mostly, I thought that extending my hand in friendship like you did for me was simply the right thing to do.” Sunset said solemnly. “I guess I can't censure you for that.” Twilight said “And what happened next?” -0- Eventually we got to the place where I live, one of the places owned by the school, an apartment that's only a block away from it. I got out my key and opened the door, and after Sunset entered the place, I showed to her everything, since she would be living there from then on. I showed her my bedroom (she left her trunk there, to unpack later), the bathroom, kitchen and living room. It wasn't a big place, but I had lived there for a while and had made it a cozy space, one which I thought was certainly big enough to hold one more person. “So, what do you think?” I asked Sunset. She had a weird expression on her face “It feels like home. Feels just like I would want my place to be.” Understanding her feelings, I pushed past any awkwardness by speaking scientifically “This isn't really a surprise. From what I've been able to see, the parallels between this dimension and mine are big enough that dimensional alternates would have similar personalities and tastes. Combining that with the fact I've been in this world for a while, it is not strange that my choices reflect your tastes so closely.” That did work, though the way she looked at me after that made me realize I may have been influenced by my Twilight a little too much. She shook her head in amusement “Okay. So where will I sleep here?” She asked. “Oh, this is a fun part!” I said, then I went back to my room. Reaching under my bed, I slid out a mini-bed. Despite being thin, it was actually pretty comfortable, and after being used, it could simply slide back under the bed to not get in the way. Sunset actually laid down on it for a minute to check, and she approved. Then I helped her unpack. I had already prepared things to give some space in the bathroom cupboard and the clothes drawer for her to put her things, because why wouldn't I do that once I knew someone was coming? That is the meaning of being efficient. It was a saturday, and that meant I had no classes for the entire day and could focus on showing Sunset around, so once everything was unpacked we left and I took her on a tour of the city. I pointed out to her both shopping centers, a few of the parks, and the street that contained everything, from stores selling furniture to dentist clinics. I obviously also showed her the hospitals and both the subway and the central bus station, from where you could go anywhere in the city. And after that, the last important thing to worry about was Canterlot College itself, since she would be studying there from now on. We took a bus there, and when we were getting close to the stop, I spoke: “And here is Canterlot College. My girlfriends are currently in classes, but later on I'll be able to introduce you, they were also interested.” She looked at me in a weird way “GirlfriendS?” She asked. “Oh yeah. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.” I pulled out a picture of the seven of us on my phone and showed it to her “They are also involved in the whole magic thing, but that part of the story is something I would rather talk about with them present.” Sunset returned the phone to me and raised an eyebrow “Girlfriends?” I sniggered, the idea that she was more skeptical of the possibility of me having those six as girlfriends than she was of the possibility of magic existing... “Oh yeah,” I managed to say “It's a funny story.” The bus stopped “But we have to go now.” Sunset shook her head and stepped out of the bus behind me. I pointed to the building in front of us, a massive snake-like two floor affair that was shaped like a C. “That's the Central Institute of Sciences, the heart of the college. It has a lot of classrooms equally used by humanities and exact sciences, but most importantly the biggest computer labs” I shook my head “The name is somewhat misleading, but this is because of historical reasons.” I kept going with the explanation “South of here is the banking center and the college restaurant, you can get a good meal from there cheaply if you have your student ID. North from here is the library and the main offices. East from here are the classrooms and labs for the biology and medicine courses. And to the West there are a lot of pavilions for varied purposes, mostly used as extra classrooms, but also theaters, meeting rooms and all those sorts of things.” She closed her eyes to try and commit it to memory “Okay. So it would be best to set my courses based on where they will take place. I can set the courses via internet, but is there a map or something to be able to show me the names of each place?” She asked. “Well...” I started, but was interrupted by a sound similar to an explosion of liquid. Then, the shadows all around started getting darker and darker. “Ah. Of course something would happen today...” I complained. “Wha-” She was about to say, but didn't manage to finish due to her surprise. Because that was when it started. Dozens of amorphous shadow figures emerged from the darkened patches around the building. Bigger than humans but not much, those figures slid quickly across the ground. One of them came to attack me, and I pointed a finger at it and shot a small spell to pierce through it and destroy it. With my other hand, I reached inside my pocked and grabbed a small wand which I gave to Sunset, saying “Point at the things and yell 'fire!' to shoot.” She kept frozen for a moment, before having her eyes widen dramatically. The reason for that was because most of the other people who were nearby had pulled out similar wands and were currently blasting at the shadow things. Yells of “Expeliarmus!”, “Alakazam!”, “Firaga!”, “Zio!” and other things were sounding. The spells weren't as powerful as mine, being unable to destroy the creatures in one shot, but they were enough to keep them at bay and slowly whittle them down. She grit her teeth in determination and pointed the wand at the closest enemy and yelled “Fire!”, shooting a bolt of energy at the thing. The thing was blasted backwards a few feet and Sunset stopped for a moment, her thoughts unknown. Then another creature came close and she blasted at that one too. I grinned. It looked like the girl was adapting remarkably well.